Thursday, 01 March 2018

The Five Pillars, the Ten Obligatory Acts and the Shahadah

• To know the Five Pillars and the Ten Obligatory Acts

• To understand the importance of the Shahadah.

I can describe I can explain the I can clearly

the most Supremacy of explain how Muslim
important belief God’s will and beliefs on the
in Islam and how how Muslims see Oneness of God and
it is a part of a God as the only the Supremacy of
Muslims daily creator and God’s will impact
life. controller. their daily lives.
The Five Pillars: the five most important duties for all Muslims;
to believe, to pray, to give to charity, to fast and to go on
pilgrimage.

The Ten Obligatory Acts: ten important duties for Shi’a

Muslims, which include the Five Pillars.

Shahadah: the Muslim declaration of faith.

 The Five Pillars
The Five Pillars are central to Muslim practices. They have a big impact on
the day to day life of a Muslim.

Muslims believe that the pillars support the main principles and beliefs of
Islam, just as pillars are used to support a building. They can be seen as
the key to living a perfect Muslim life.
1. Shahadah – the declaration of
They help to give faith
Muslims an identity
as one community 2. Salah - prayer

who share faith, The

Five 3. Zakah – charitable giving
and enable them to Pillars
show their 4. Sawm - fasting
obedience an
dedication to God. 5. Hajj - pilgrimage
 Shahadah
The basic belief in Islam is expressed It is said when a baby is
born, so the first thing
in the Shahadah. In Arabic it is: that they hear is this
basic belief of the faith
they are born into.

‘There is no God but

Allah and Muhammad is It is also
included in the
daily prayers

the Prophet of Allah’

Reciting this statement in front of Muslim If possible, it
becomes the last
witnesses is the only requirement for joining words of a Muslim
the Muslim community. before they die.
Shahadah in Shi’a Islam
In Shi’a Islam, Muslims add an extra phrase to the Shahadah:

‘and Ali is the friend of God’.

This demonstrates their belief that Ali, Muhammad’s cousin
and son-in-law, was the true successor of Muhammad, and
that only he and his descendants know the true meaning of
the revelation given to Muhammad.
 The Ten Obligatory Acts
For Muslims who follow Twelver Shi’a Islam, there are ten duties called the Ten Obligatory
Acts (also known as the Ancillaries of the Faith). There include all the Five Pillars except
Shahadah (which is covered by some of the additional acts). They are:

1. Salah – prayer
Write down the Ten
2. Sawm – fasting Obligatory Acts with
3. Zakah – charitable giving their meaning.
4. Khums – a 20% tax on income once all expenses are deducted. Half goes to charity and
half goes to Shi’a religious leaders
Out of the acts that
5. Hajj – pilgrimage
are different from
6. Jihad – the struggle to maintain the faith and defend Islam. For many Muslims this
means the struggle to live by their faith as well as possible, for example by obeying the
the Five Pillars,
Five Pillars, contributing to the community or doing voluntary work. which do you think is
7. Amr-bil-Maruf – encouraging people to do what is good the most important
8. Nahi Anil Munkar – discouraging people from doing what is wrong and why?
9. Tawakkah – to be loving towards the friends of God, including Muhammad and the
Imams

10. Tabarra – disassociating from the enemies of God

 The Five Pillars, the Ten Obligatory Acts and the Shahadah
Lesson Launch Key terms
The Five Pillars:

How do The Ten Obligatory Acts:

people
show Shahadah:
dedication?

What is the Shahadah? The Ten Obligatory Acts

Act Definition

Challenge: Explain what you are dedicated to and how you show your What does it translate to in English? 1.
dedication.
2.

3.
What do Shi’a Muslims add to the Shahadah and 4.
why?
5.
Draw an image which represents the Five Pillars. Make sure you label
the image to show each of the pillars 6.

7.
Challenge: When do Muslims use the
Shahadah? Explain why you think the Shahadah
8.
is said at those times?
9.

10.
Out of the acts that are different from the Five Pillars, which do you
think is the mist important and why?

Learning Objectives: To know the Five Pillars and the Ten Obligatory Acts and to understand the importance of the Shahadah.